West Bank! First Boston in Running to Be First Tenant at Hudson Yards

Ever since Steve Ross trotted out the much-talked-about fact that Related is under discussion for 18 million square feet of leases at Hudson Yards, The Observer‘s nose has been pointed way westward.

By far the biggest news we’ve found isthat Credit Suisse-First Boston might be mulling a move to Hudson Yards, according to multiple top industry sources. The rumor moreover appears to check out, as the bank’s 1.8 million square feet of leases at 11 Madison and 315 Park Avenue South are likely to expire in 2017–perfect timing, if Related’s first, smaller tower is finished around that time.

But why would a swanky investment bank countenance moving to the wild, wild far West Side? Cassidy Turley research guru Robert Sammons, who had not heard the news, said it does make sense. “They’re kind of an interesting tenant,” he said. “They’re a financial services firm that went to a different type of market in 2000. They’re kind of perfect for that neighborhood [the far West Side]. It’s not like they’re a Park Avenue tenant looking to move to Hudson Yards.”

If this is, indeed, the case, then Credit Suisse might be the last to know. A spokesman insisted the rumor is untrue.

Related needs to sign an anchor tenant relatively soon in order to move forward with the project, which is supposed to contain 4 million square feet of office space. The good news for Mr. Ross, Related’s chairman, is that there is no shortage of interesting candidates. News Corporation, whose possible tenancy helped Related secure the project in the first place before dropping out, remains a possibility, according to one source. As does Time Warner, which has an estimated 5 million square feet of office space in New York and New Jersey, much of which expires in 2017. (They tapped Studley’s Mitchell Steir to help them look.) Coach was also said to be weighing 600,000 square feet.